This invention is generally directed to residential and commercial alarm systems which are selectively armed and disarmed by a user. More specifically, the security alarm system of the present invention utilizes a door contact that is able to determine whether an entry door is opened or closed. The security alarm system of the present invention will arm (or turn ON) when the door contact indicates that the entry door is in a closed position, and disarm (or shut OFF) when the door contact indicates that the entry door is in an opened position.
Burglaries, and the perceived risk thereof, have continually increased, particularly in crowded urban areas. Thus, more and more businesses and homes are protected by alarm systems. Most alarm systems comprise an alarm control panel; a series of detectors, sensors and/or door/perimeter contacts; and a user-controlled keypad. An alarm control panel typically includes all the necessary wiring and processing capable to determine whether signal information received from the detectors, sensors, contacts, etc. is indicative of an intruder. In more modern systems, the alarm control panel also provides the means for securing the telephone line (whether wireless or hardwired) in the house and dialing out to a central monitoring station if the processed signals are indicative of an intruder. A central monitoring station will then typically call the owner of the premises and, unless a proper secret code is provided, dispatch the police. The initial telephone call to the owner is not required but is usually done to confirm that the signal indicative of an alarm condition is not, instead, a false alarm. In certain municipalities, signals from the control panel may be sent directly to the police department or other municipal branch.
In the early prior art, the provided keypad was often utilized for both installation and operational programming functions, and to permit a user to arm or disarm the alarm system. However, the programming of an installed alarm system is increasingly conducted via downloading directly to the alarm control panel from a hand-held device or from a remote location using a telephone connection. Thus, the keypad is often little more than a complicated and expensive xe2x80x9cON/OFFxe2x80x9d switch.
In conventional alarm systems, when a user is ready to exit the premises and desires the alarm system to be turned ON (i.e., armed), a unique user code will be punched into the keypad. Typically, a delay is set that allows sufficient time for the user to exit the premises through the access (or entry) door without setting off a false alarm. Conversely, when entering the premises, the user again must punch in a preselected code, utilizing the keypad, to disarm the alarm system. Again, a delay time is typically provided. If a user forgets or incorrectly inputs the preselected code and the delay time expires, an alarm condition will be initiated. Typically, an alarm condition will result in both an audio indication (such as a siren) and notification (via the telephone lines) to a central monitoring station.
Conventional keypad security systems are viewed unfavorably by users for a multiplicity of reasons. First, users need to remember their specific code and keep it secret. In order to permit authorized visitors access for a limited period of time (such as a house guest), a home or business owner must provide the access code yet would later need to change it to maintain security. Additionally, users often experience anxiety with the delay time permitted to enter a proper authorization code when either entering or exiting the premises. Many users, particularly elderly users, often lack the manual dexterity or the ability to view the keypad required to properly enter the pre-established code. All of these shortcomings result in unnecessary false alarms that occur during the simple process of entering or exiting the premises.
Soloway et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,903 entitled ALARM SYSTEM ARMED AND DISARMED BY A DEADBOLT ON A DOOR, which is assigned to NAPCO Security Systems, Inc. (the same assignee as the present invention) solved the aforementioned difficulties with respect to entry doors that incorporated a deadbolt, latch, or the like. In essence, the alarm system would become armed when the deadbolt (or latch) was engaged and disarmed when the deadbolt (or latch) was retracted. U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,903 is hereby incorporated herein by this reference.
It has been shown that consumers particularly appreciate the xe2x80x9cpassivexe2x80x9d means of disabling the alarm system as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,903 wherein the retraction of the deadbolt or latch itself disarms the security system. Regrettably, many consumers who desire this passive disarming alarm system either do not utilize a deadbolt or, because they trust their alarm monitoring company so implicitly, fail to properly engage the deadbolt when exiting the premises.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved security alarm system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved security alarm system that can be armed and disarmed based on the position of an entry door.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved security alarm system that is totally programmable without the utilization of a keypad, if desired.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a new improved security alarm system which is armed and disarmed dependent upon the position of an entry door, and which is further tamper proof.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and the drawings.
Briefly stated, and in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a security alarm system which may be selectively armed or disarmed when monitoring a protected premises is described which utilizes the position of an entry door (as either closed or opened) to determine whether the security system should be armed or disarmed. The security system comprises (i) an entry door for permitting ingress to the protected premises from the outside of the entry door and egress from the protected premises from the inside of the entry door; (ii) means for selectively closing an opening the entry door; and (iii) a door contact having a first state indicative of said entry door being in a closed position and second state indicative of said entry door being in an open position wherein, when said door contact is in said first state, said security system is armed and, when said door contact is in said second state, said security system is disarmed. The door contact utilized in the present invention can constitute a magnetic door contact (comprising a magnet and reed switch), an electron beam, or any other commonly utilized contacts which enable a user to determine if an entry door is in an opened or closed position. Additionally, while the contact (or switch) is described in the preferred embodiment as having one half the contact on the entry door and the other half of the door contact on the door frame, it would also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the door contact can have one half on the door and the other half placed on the floor beneath the door. Furthermore, the door contact can be placed on the top, bottom or sides of the entry door.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention also is described utilizing a xe2x80x9cpassivexe2x80x9d disabling means and an xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d enabling means for the security alarm system. However, the apparatus and method described herein is equally effective in a security alarm system which allows for both passive arming and passive disarming of the security system.
The control unit described in conjunction with the preferred embodiment of the present invention permits the security alarm system to determine if the security alarm system was armed with authorized persons remaining inside the protected premises or whether no one remains in the secured premises. In the former situation, only external sensors and detectors will be activated, whereas in the latter situation, both internal (i.e., interior) and external (i.e., perimiter) sensors and detectors will be activated. Additionally, the command unit described in conjunction with the preferred embodiment permits for easy disabling of an inadvertent alarm and the entry of a special mode when a user loses his key, access card, or other means for locking and unlocking an entry door.